Words

I' ve always been somewhat fascinated by words. Yes, you heard me: words. It's amazing how one person can make certain sounds, and other people can interpret those sounds to mean something. Isn't that weird?

There's power in words; the sounds that make up words have meaning in and of themselves. This may be a little deep for a Monday afternoon, I admit, but isn't anyone else fascinated by words and sounds?

Okay, fine, so it's just me. But since this is my blog and not your blog I'm going to just keep talking.

First of all, I have to say that "Hobo" is one of my favorite words. Hobo. Isn't that funny? There's so much meaning tied up in those two syllables. You could say the word to someone who's never heard it before and they'd know what you were talking about. They would, I promise!

Growing up, I was always reluctant to use a word or phrase for which I didn't know the meaning. That left me with very few words to choose from, but I very seldom used words incorrectly (people who knew me may disagree, but that's how I choose to remember my childhood).

I specifically remember a time in the third grade, Mrs. Atkinson's class (I can still remember where the room was in the school, how it was set up, and where I sat in the room, but that's fodder for another post), we learned to word "Bashful". Well, actually, the rest of the class learned the word as I was daydreaming.

The teacher roused me from my daydream as she presented me as an example of someone who is bashful, and I had no idea what she was talking about. And, as it turned out, after they taught each word they didn't bother teaching them again. For over 2 years I wondered what it was that the teacher thought I was (and that the class had so whole-heartedly agreed to).

Not that that story has anything to do with what I want to talk about, but it felt good to talk about it.

No, the real point of this post is to discuss words. Most nights before bed I do a crossword puzzle or two, and I'm amazed at the images each word puts into my mind.

There's a Far Side cartoon where a man, a cat, and a dog all reach for a ball in the middle of the room and their heads touch. The original captions reads, "Simultaneously all three went for the ball, and the coconut-like sound of their heads hitting secretly delighted the bird." Gary Larson says that he soon received a letter from a reader saying that the word "colliding" would be more appropriate, and he subsequently changed it. Isn't that a much better word? "Hitting" and "colliding" both mean the same thing, don't they? So why is "colliding" so much better?

There's a website (I know, there's always a website) that I enjoy reading from time to time. The guy who runs it studies words (and phrases) and where they come from and what they mean. Some of the explanations are pretty boring, but some are pretty interesting. He also weeds out the improper spellings and uses of the words.

Some words and phrases that I'd always sort of wondered about (and have subsequently been hesitant to use in conversation) are:

• "For Pete's Sake"
• "Kitty Corner"
• "Mind your Ps and Qs"

There are, of course, many many others, but that's all I could find in the short time I had to look.

It really is a site worth checking out. If you've missed the links, you can access it by clicking here.

PS - Though not related to that site, I've found a couple words to be funny. One is "Shutters". You just think "shutters" is a name for what they are, don't you? No, it's because they can be shut. They shut. Shutters. How about that.

"Movie" is a similar word. You just think that's what they're called, don't you? You go watch a movie, you rent a movie. You don't realize they're called "movies" because the pictures "move", do you? It's like the "talkies" from years ago. Strange, isn't it? (Was I the last person to realize that that's where the word "movie" comes from?)